Page 39 - Resources and Support for the Online Educator

CHAPTER 2 • How Might Teachers Respond to the Challenges?

certainly does not help our case when pacing guides already
send teachers into overdrive. So how does a teacher work
around time constraints? What does effective instruction,
assessment, and timely feedback look like for students with
learning disabilities? After many years in a resource setting,
I knew that I had to leverage technology in my classroom,
specifically through the effective use of free applications that
would complement my classroom instruction.
After you establish your goal, consider how to find the tools
that will help you achieve it. Too often people decide that
tech is good enough to use without a clear plan. It must serve
a purpose. You want to get meaningful work done and not
just busy work complete. Every assessment shouldn’t just be
on paper and pencil—or on a computer. Tech allows students
to show what they know in a variety of ways, but more so—it
allows access to things and places that may otherwise be
considered a stretch. Isn’t that what teaching and learning is
all about?

Figure 2.2 Fewer students with disabilities scored at Proficient
or beyond (Image credit: U.S. Dept. of Education, 2011.)
Writing
For example, writing can be frustrating for students with
disabilities because of motor dexterity challenges or because

20 Closing the Gap: Digital Equity Strategies for the K–12 Classroom

Excerpted from Chapter 2, “How Might Teachers Respond to the Challenges?”

Closing the Gap: Digital Equity Strategies for the K-12 Classroom 39